Coronavirus: Dan’s great wall of Melbourne goes up

There’s neither cement nor razor wire, but Daniel Andrews has built his very own wall around 5.2 million Melburnians.

Police and troops check motorists passing through the regional checkpoint on the Calder Freeway, north of Melbourne, on Wednesday. Picture: Jay Town

There‘s neither cement nor razor wire, but Daniel Andrews has built his very own wall around 5.2 million Melburnians.

From Thursday, Victoria Police will operate new checkpoints around the city to catch residents heading for a country escape and slap them with a $4957 fine, covered under a new offence created for the difference in COVID-19 restrictions between the regions and city.

Even if Melburnians pull off a great escape and get to their holiday houses, regional police will use number-plate recognition technology and patrols to catch them bunkered down in towns and villages, monitoring national parks, caravan parks, boat ramps, pubs, clubs and restaurants

Police will also set up additional checkpoints at holiday spots including the Mornington Peninsula, which is considered part of metropolitan Melbourne and is home to the state’s richest holiday towns.

The Premier said he had worked “very closely” with Victoria Police on enforcement measures to impose a ”ring of steel”.

“Whether you want to call it a ring of steel or a border or whatever the term, the key aim is very simple: only those who have to go to regional Victoria and have a lawful reason to go to regional Victoria can go to regional Victoria,” Mr Andrews said. “We‘ve got to be inflexible on this.”

Victoria's COVID restriction boundary lines.

He said he had also been in ­discussions with the Australian Hotels Association to ensure ­hospitality businesses in regional Victoria would not be serving customers from Melbourne.

“If you‘re not from regional Victoria, then you should not be at the pub, and that compliance will be very, very important when it comes to, it’s not just police, it’s not just health department, ADF and all the others, it is also individual businesses playing their part.”

Mr Andrews said there would be further clarification added to the Department of Health and Human Services website about what constituted a lawful reason to travel to regional Victoria.

There are seven permanent checkpoints at the moment and Deputy Commissioner, Regional Operations Rick Nugent said more checkpoints would be put in place to stop Melburnians heading to the regions.

He said checkpoints had been operating with about a 15-minute delay for motorists but he expected significant delays under the new restrictions.

“There will be delays at these checkpoints and for that I am sorry but we have to do all we can to ensure people from metropolitan Melbourne don’t travel to these areas,” he said.

Police will also be checking all vehicles towing campervans, boats, jetskis, fishing gear or swags.

The checkpoint to the Mornington Peninsula will be operating in shifts, not 24/7, and Melburnians being caught on their way to the area will be hit with the $1652 fine.

Under the new law, Mr Nugent said people could travel between regions via Melbourne.

Mr Nugent urged owners of campgrounds and local accommodation to turn away guests from the city, even though they were hurting financially.

“[It] might assist with your business … but you‘re putting people at risk,” he said

“We have gone through a lot in Victoria with the pandemic; let’s get through the other side. Let’s maintain for that bit longer.”

Mr Nugent said regional police officers would play a strong role in keeping their communities safe.

Police and Army personnel man a checkpoint on the Princes Freeway between Melbourne and Geelong. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

“I’ve asked them to be very ­active and ensure they are the protectors of their local community,” he said.

“Those local police will be ­patrolling the roads, checking vehicles, caravan parks, camping grounds and state parks and attending at boat ramps, pubs, clubs and bars.”

He said the checkpoints, ­patrols and new offence would be a strong deterrent. A couple caught heading to the regions would be hit with a nearly $10,000 fine.

“We absolutely have a role in this to ensure those deliberately, blatantly breaching restrictions are caught and appropriately fined,” he said.

Mr Nugent said everyone had “restriction fatigue” but the restrictions could only be lifted by following the directions of the Chief Health Officer and limiting the spread of the virus.

“You see a lot of commentary about a police state and the police actions,” he said.

“Our people are out there day in, day out, the middle of the night, during the day; checking people at checkpoints, people moving around after curfew. They’re doing it to help keep the community safe.”